DOVER, Pa. — The Dover Township Planning Commission on Wednesday voted unanimously to recommend a controversial warehouse proposal to the town’s Board of Supervisors.
The project, put forward by global real estate developer Hines, consists of three warehouses totaling 1.9 million square feet near Canal Road and Bull Road.
The proposal has caused residents to worry about the impact the project could have on the intersection of Bull and Canal Roads, which currently would likely not be able to handle the expected increase in truck traffic. The intersection is one of the busiest in Pennsylvania without a stoplight or roundabout.
Developers presented the plan to the Commission and to the standing-room-only audience at the Dover Municipal Building.
The group acknowledged the traffic situation and revealed their proposal to add a temporary stoplight to the intersection.
Residents voiced their concerns during the public comment period, expressing their worry that eminent domain may need to be used to accommodate an improvement of the road.
Commission Chair W. Michael Hoffman told FOX43 after the meeting that the Commission was legally required to recommend the plan based on it meeting zoning requirements and that he believes most of the town is in favor of the proposal based on the economic benefits it would bring to Dover.
"A lot of those people will be negatively affected," Hoffman said. "Unfortunately, there's a bigger group of people in the township that are in favor of it. The citizenry of the township has been pushing to obtain or entertain or solicit commercial enterprises for the purposes of raising the tax base for the school district. A subject like this raises the tax base tremendously."
Hoffman said the Commission does not make final decisions on any project, and it has to consider consequences for projects of any size, not just this one.
"Every plan that we get somehow affects somebody else," Hoffman said. "Every one. When your neighbor builds a house right next to you, it affected you."
Hoffman says what PennDOT does with the intersection of Bull and Canal Roads remains a mystery.
"It's possible, I suppose," Hoffman said when asked if he believes the use of eminent domain by the state is possible. "The unknown right now is how the engineering department of PennDOT comes up with a solution to the ongoing problem. If we denied this project, the project of what's going on at the intersection will continue with or without this project."
The warehouse proposal will now go to the Dover Board of Supervisors following prescribed revisions put forward by the Commission.